A Canadian journalist’s book on harm reduction in Vancouver is coming to the United States, and the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program hosted the author for a discussion and book launch. In “Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction,” Travis Lupick provides a detailed look…

Members of the LBGTQ community, in particular transgender people, and allies are working to protect the public accommodations law adopted by the Massachusetts legislature in 2016. The law specifically protects a person based on their gender identity, but could be repealed if voters choose ‘no’ on the ballot question in November. Freedom for All Massachusetts…

It started with a relatively small action: A black felt armband worn to her Texas grade school as part of a nationwide protest against the Vietnam War. Cecile Richards was only 13 at the time, and it was her first big leap into the resistance. As a result of her act of rebellion, she was…

A cold sandwich is what students may get instead of the hot lunch they wanted at some Massachusetts public schools. They often are humiliated, sometimes to tears, when denied their lunch, and some are even confronted about their parents’ debt by cafeteria workers. State Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, and Rep. Andres Vargas, D-Haverhill, have filed…

The Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance (MHSA) has received the Hearst Health Prize for Excellence in Population Health. The prize recognizes MHSA’s Home & Healthy for Good (HHG) program, which was founded in 2006. The win was announced on Tuesday, March 20 at the 18th annual Population Health Colloquium in Philadelphia. “All of us at…

A new nationwide study finds that putting more people in jail for drug offenses doesn’t reduce drug use or overdose deaths. On Monday, President Donald Trump called for harsher sentences– including the death penalty for drug traffickers– to combat the opioid epidemic. Jake Horowitz, director of research and policy at Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety…

Last spring a group of students, led by their Professor Dr. Debra Harkins, came up with Bill H.3933, which is based on an idea out of Hawaii that says homelessness should be treated as a medical condition; this could allow doctors to write prescriptions for housing. I know, it sounds far fetched, but when you…

The envelope arrived in my mailbox a couple of weeks before Christmas. It had a green stripe at the top and in big bold letters alerted me that I needed to open it immediately. Inside the envelope, I found a letter letting me know that my health insurance under MassHealth—which is the Massachusetts Medicaid program—would…

I have been drug and alcohol free now for almost 15 years. Does the heroin still call to me? To be honest, at times it does. As a matter of fact, after almost four years clean, I relapsed and used heroin for another year and two months. An eternity in hell. How did that happen?…

A program that rewards SNAP recipients for buying fresh produce will be out of funding for a few months this spring. The Department of Transitional Assistance says it can’t fund the Healthy Incentives Program, which provides dollar for dollar matches for SNAP money spent on fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, farm stands and mobile…

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